Bruce Wayne was standing in the Justice League Watchtower, staring down at Earth. The Watchtower was the headquarters of what remained of the Justice League. Orbiting 22,300 miles above the surface of Earth, it also acted like it's first line of defense; sensing any potential threat to the blue planet. It was made up of promethium- a nigh indestructible method, which was required given the level of threat the League faced on a routine basis. And to add on to that, the Watchtower was composed of advanced technology not just from Earth but other planets as well. It was composed of areas like the main meeting chamber, spacecraft bay, teleporter, the monitor centre etc. And for extra security, it was guarded by several warships.

'Earth !' Bruce thought to himself 'So lucky to have survived the attack all those years ago !'' He sometimes wondered if Earth was protected by God Himself. It was the right distance from its star, at the right temperature,at the right angle, the right mass, even the right constituents ! There was no other ideal place for life to begin with. Maybe it was His perfect and most prized creation, that's why it always survived, was always successfully defended when so many other worlds were destroyed- it always survived.

'But everything has a price...' Bruce thought as he flashbacked at a time when this perfect planet was at brink of annihilation...

(A MEMORY)

...

...

'You can think over this again.' I pleaded.

He gave me a 'you-know-what's-best' look.

'Agreed, you trained yourself like never before in the last few weeks. But you've got to understand that this is a universe-level threat we're dealing with; it would be foolishness to take it head on, we have to devise a plan to somehow deal with it.' I said spreading out my arms in frustration. This guy could be so stubborn at times !

'I think we have a plan.' He replied arching his left eyebrow.

'I mean a plan where you don't have to get yourself killed- the League needs you !' I raised my voice, almost screaming. Until now, he had been avoiding any eye contact, but the forceful plea had made him to stop and turn his head to face me. I saw it in his eyes- the realization, the pain, the sorrow. He knew that these may be the last few days he had left, he had always known- that's why we got to see him less often these days; either he was training or spending time with his princess girlfriend, Diana.

He masked that pain in his eyes with a tight, reassuring smile and placed a hand on my shoulder. 'Don't worry Bruce. Nothing will happen to me, I have always survived, always found a way out.'

'True, but...'

ZAAP ! He sped away, leaving a blur of red and blue, before I could finish my sentence.

...

...

Bruce snapped himself back the memory. Thankfully, it was all over and Earth and the entire universe was successfully defended, but at a price.

Earth lost more than 90% of its population, the remaining were scattered in small groups all over the globe trying desperately to cling on to life. The apocalyptic attack had most certainly marred the planet. Entire ethnic groups, cultures, nations wiped out- but one thing good did happen. In the wake of the aftermath, people forgot all their differences in colour, ethnicity, religion etc. and joined hands to form one global community. There were now no more countries or states or cities; just sectors. And the whole of earth came under one global leader. Local influences and traditions still lived on, but were confined only to that particular area.

Bruce began thinking of the role of the remaining Justice League in the Earth's gradual resurrection. Bruce Wayne's company, Wayne Industries, the largest business empire, had merged with the Lexcorp to form the PhoenixTech, a symbolic reference to the world, an inspiration of some sort ; inspiring the people to rise again from the ashes; just like the mythical bird. The phoenix symbols and statues were to be seen everywhere Lex Luthor was appointed the Leader of the World Council, because of his past experiences in running successful ventures- Lexcorp, president of the U.S and his invaluable contribution in saving the planet. In fact, he had been the one to suggest the merging of the two business empires to Bruce. Although, a lot of the leaguers were skeptical of Lex being the world leader, the founding members trusted him and thus voted for him.

The PhoenixTech took it upon itself to rebuild the world and with some scientifically advanced extraterrestrial aid, it did just that. It was the fastest planet resurrection ever known and within 5 years, the time from the invasion to the current one, Earth was almost done.

The rest of the league members became the council members, taking part in day-to-day policy making.

'Time to meet an old friend.' Bruce thought to himself as he stepped on the teleporter, punching in the coordinates...

Diana was dusting her room, particularly a framed photo of her and Superman, when she heard a slight knock to the door.

'Coming.' she said aloud, and crossed the living room to open the door. She came face to face with Bruce Wayne, the co-owner of PhoenixTech. As usual he had come in pretty groomed, his grey three piece suit neatly pressed, his hair shiny and combed back. And as usual, he was wearing a smile on his face.

'Well, well, well, Bruce Wayne, what a pleasant surprise !' She said opening her arms to embrace him in a casual hug.

'Yeah Diana ! Long time no see. May I enter ?'

'Why not !? Please come in.' She said, making way for him to enter.

Five minutes later, they were sipping tea from their cups sitting on the sofa facing each other.

'How's work ?' Bruce asked.

'It's going good, I would say.' Diana replied placing down her cup. Bruce pondered over her words for a moment, and then said.

'If anything goes wrong, you know I am just a phone call, Diana.'

'If everything's fine, Bruce ! Stop being so paranoid !' Diana said in a laughing manner. He hadn't changed at all. 'Besides you have already done so much for us, I can't thank you enough for that. The decision to leave the League, adjusting to this world, then the job. Also when I was... pregnant with my son, you helped me stay hidden, Bruce. I can never thank you enough for that.'

Silence filled the room for sometime before Bruce decided to break it.

'Speaking of which, how's David ?' He asked with a hint of worry in his voice, he genuinely cared for the lovely boy.

'He's ... normal. To sum it up.'

Then began the great topic of discussion, something which had baffled everyone who knew of it. It defied all logic and rationale.

'Can't understand why ? If I recall correctly Clark is his father and you, Diana the mother. Superman and Wonder Woman, gave birth to a; normal child ? It can't be possible !' He said widening his eyes.

'But... it is. And it's for everyone to see. And I am happy that he is, that puts him out of the League. That puts him out of harm's 'radar'. No evil will come looking for him. You know all those enemies we fought over the years, they had no class, would do just about anything to get to you; even hurt your loved ones. I would not want my son to be a bait. Suffer for no apparent fault of his, it wouldn't be fair would it ?'

'Diana I am not questioning your decision to leave the League. I am just curious as to how David doesn't possess any supernatural abilities like his parents ?'

'Bruce.' She said looking him deep in the eye 'He gets bullied at school, bleeds by getting his knees scraped, falls sick very oftEn. You have seen it all for yourself. He is a normal kid. That's it.'

She was right. Once Bruce had gone as far as to spy on him for a full month, wondering if the boy showed his true side when no one was around, but he never displayed any superhuman feats. He sometimes wondered if David was Clark and Diana's son at all.

'Hmmm.. You are right. Maybe the Kryptonian and Amazonian genes had some kind of cancelling effect. When the two met, maybe they rendered some form of an inert effect, suppressed the supernatural effects of one another. It happens at sometimes, in the wild, even within people. This is what I hypothesize at least, nobody can know for sure.' He said shrugging his shoulders.

Diana took a few moments to understand his words. It was the best possible explanation, so she decided to go with it. She silently nodded her head in agreement. She got up and went to the refrigerator and came back with a big bottle of wine.

'But that doesn't make him any less adorable.' She said smilingly, first pouring Bruce a glass of the red coloured drink and then helping herself. Nothing could make her love her son any less.

'Absolutely not, he is a wonderful child ! Shy at first, but once he opens up, he is all sugar.' He added. 'I never knew you drink ?'

'Only on special occasions.'

'Clark would have been a proud father.'

'True, but Clark's gone. And I must ensure that he lives on in my son.' It had taken her an awful lot of time to come to terms with the fact.

'He's alive, here .' Bruce said, pointing to his heart. 'But his legacy will never die. He saved all of us. To Superman !' He raised his glass.

'To Clark Kent !' She said raising her glass as well. And they both began sipping the wine in honour of their world's greatest hero.


Goku had finally found it. It was a good half an hour on foot from where he landed on this planet for the first time. A little clearing about the size of a football ground was where he had finally reached. He was still shirtless.

'This is where I train.' He said, appreciatively eyeing the area. But there was one problem with that, he had become so powerful that mere push ups or pull ups would not affect his body or ki by any means. To have even the slightest effect the number of such reps would have to go into millions ! That would take an awful lot of time !

'What do I do now ?' He thought scratching his head. There was no Capsule Corporation in this world; although a strange phoenix sign seemed to hover everywhere he went. There was no Kame's lookout or even a hyperbolic time chamber. And he was pretty much sure that there would be no King Kai too.

'Looks like a situation here.' He had to act fast in order to maintain his ki level.

'What would vegetable, er, Vegeta have done in this case ?' The encounter with the mysterious woman was brief, but memorable. She had made him realize the pun of the names of all the people he had ever met. Her ki was so different than the ones he felt around. And the most intriguing feature was her eyes- big and light blue in colour. The way she blinked, how her irises fluctuated, the slight squeezes and relaxing- she was definitely hiding something, maybe pain and sorrow from her past, in those pretty set of hers. Although was called naive, almost childlike in innocence, he knew a lot about how a person feels, the expression one makes when happy, sad or hiding something. He knew it from his not so long ago experiences...

Goku dug his hand in the sack where he had kept his senzu beans. And he felt something that was definitely not bean-like. He took it out and saw that he was holding a capsule ! I opened it and pop came out a capsule training chamber ! It was built by Dr. Brief and Bulma after a lot of insisting by Chichi for Goku ! Apparently it was modeled on the hyperbolic time chamber and served as a portable version of it. It was thus far the greatest invention of the Capsule Corporation.

'Where did it come from ?' He asked himself. Then he remembered, yes, that was it. It was still clear to him, as if it happened yesterday..

(A MEMORY)

...

...

I had tied in the last lace of my boot ready to fly off. I was needed now like never before.

'Son Goku, wait !' It was a very familiar voice which came from behind. I turned around to come face to face with my love, my wife Chichi. I expected her to raise hell as usual, but on her face was a soft expression, a pained one, yet she tried to conceal it.

'For you.' She said lifting a sack with two hands up to my face, her eyes now getting slightly wet. 'Thought you might need it.'

I looked at the sack then at her face. Yes, it didn't look like it but she was heartbroken from inside. She would have cried, but she knew that doing so would only weaken me, would make me want to stay, would make me hesitant. She knew. That's why she said nothing, fearful that a word more would unleash all the emotions.

I took the sack from her and peeked a look inside- senzu beans ! She knew that I would need it, but it never occurred to me.

'Oh Chichi !' Was all I could say, a lump rising in my throat. I didn't thank her because I didn't need to; she could see it in my eyes. Even if I did, I couldn't thank her enough- raising Gohan, and raising Goten alone. Making sure that my sons didn't grow up uneducated like their father, then caring for me when I had that deadly heart virus- never leaving my side. I hugged her tight for a full minute before letting go.

'You take care of yourself, Goku.' She said, her voice on the brink of looked away wiping the corner of her eye.

I took her face in my hands and gently kissed her.

'Nothing will happen to me, I promise.' I said tying the sack to my waist belt. It was time to move, I flew off slowly towards the sky.

'Be back before dinner ! I have made your favourite dish !' Chichi cried.

Wow ! Now I 'had' to return back...

...

...

The strong gust of wind blew Goku's face bringing him back to present time. He slowly closed his eyes, and held his head up in the air, with the wind blowing in his face and ruffling his hair. It was so quite, so serene out there that he let it all soak in. An image of his wife appeared before him.

'Thank you Chichi !' He said with his eyes still closed. She was always there for him.

He stood like that for quite some time before powering up.

HAAAA ! A glowing red aura now surrounded him. But something was not right, he felt too powerful ! As powerful as his Super Supersaiyan 3 form when battling Imperiex; and he had not even transformed yet ! How was this possible ?!

He did not get much time to ponder over it as he felt a very familiar ki signature approaching him.

'I hope your mother doesn't catch you red-handed again.' He said smiling over his shoulder at him.

'Whoa ! How did you know I was following you ? And can you teach me how to do that ?' a surprised David asked, looking at the shirtless man.

Goku saw that the boy's eyes shown with surprise and wonder upon seeing the red aura. Anyone's eyes would !

'Why would you like to learn that ?' He asked curiously.

'So that I can beat up all the bad boys, the mean boys.'

'Why ? Why would you like to do that ?'

'Because they hurt me. They are mean, very bad.' David said with a frown.

'Hey David, you look better with a smile than a frown !' He said ruffling the boy's hair.

The boy smiled, he liked his hair being messed up like that. He had also remembered his name.

'Would you like to see something, David ?'

He nodded.

'Climb on my back.' He did as told. 'Hold on tightly.' Goku instructed, and felt the boy's grip tightening around his neck.

Then he took off upwards..

10 kph.. 50 kph.. 100 kph, he kept his speed at that, lest the boy lose his grasp. He flew up and up and up, and all the while he heard the boy's cry, joy mixed with excitement, fear, fun. Then they reached the clouds.

'Remember the time you wondered what's up in those clouds ? This is what's up.' He said, recalling his own childhood fantasies. The sun was shining at the clouds causing the exposed parts to glow with a golden hue.

'WOOOO...!' David exclaimed, lost for words.

'Lools like heaven, doesn't it ?'

The boy nodded looking around with big eyes, still amazed by the view.

'Keep doing that and your eyes will pop out !'

The boy looked at him worriedly.

'Nah, just kidding !' He said laughing and rubbing the back of his head'

'Goku, look there's a rainbow out there !' David said pointing to a rainbow a few kilometers away. He was about to ask Goku to fly there, when he felt him move forward and within a few seconds they were next to it. This man seemed to know what he wanted !

David climbed to the side of Goku and began reaching out to touch the seven-coloured bow.

'Just be careful !' Goku said, keeping a firm grip on the boy. The boy reached out for the rainbow and got... nothing !

'I can't touch it !' He complained.

'Strange ! Even I thought that I would get to know what it feels like.' Goku said with a long face. None of them knew that the rainbow was just light split into seven colours. 'You better not try to slide down it.'

'Hmm.. that would be a very bad idea. But..'

'But what ?'

'I think if we follow it, we might find a big pot of gold.'

'Huh...?'

'Never heard of it ?'

Goku just shook his head in reply. 'But it sounds exciting ! Let's go !'

And so they flew off in search of the gold.

'Nothing here.' Goku declared, after half an hour of their treasure hunting.

'How disappointing !' David said 'So where do we go now ?'

'Just wait !'

And then he flew away with David, ascending down. The clouds cleared away and they both saw an ocean, vast and endless. Goku flew down and came as close to the water surface as possible without coming in contactwith it.

David saw the blurred water racing past him and he reached down to it. This time he would get to touch something. The water was pleasantly cold, as his small hands cut right through it.

'WOOOOO... HOOOO !'

Then he heard a splash and turned his head in time to see a large whale jumping out of the water, large amount of water flowing down it's body. Then they flew towards it !

'No stop, please !' David cried in horror. 'We'll get crushed by the whale !'

They were fast approaching the whale.

'Please stop !' But his pleas went unheard. Goku was still speeding towards the descending gigantic creature ! The boy shut his eyes tight, ready to embrace the crushing impact. He would not get to see himself die.

Just as they were about to collide with the whale, Goku, at very last moment, cut his speed to half, so that the marine mammal went back to the water first, allowing them to harmlessly pass through the after-splash left by it.

David opened his eyes, he was still alive. Wet, but alive. His heart was speeding as he saw himself ascending to the sky again. He felt excited ! This was the most extraordinary day of his utterly ordinary life ! Despite having a very loving mother, he was always prohibited from doing anything that involved the slightest amount of risk- playing football, jumping stairs, even cycling ! Life was indeed boring for him.

He started laughing out loud, it was all too exciting.

'Hey ! Why this sudden laughter ?' asked Goku looking back at him, but the boy just kept laughing. Then he remembered the boy's mother and how he had laughed when she made him realize the pun on the vegetable names.

'So that's what it feels like !' Goku said to himself, still looking at the laughing boy.

He should have kept his eyes straight ahead, because the moment he did, he saw a large airplane approaching them ! Goku swerved at the right moment to avoid any collision, narrowly missing it.

'We've all got wet. Better dry ourselves up.' Goku said to the still laughing boy and turned to the direction where they came from.

...

Hours later they were both lying naked under a tree with their clothes hanging up. They had spent quite some time discussing each other's lives.

'So your mommy's name is Diana Kent ?' Goku asked again looking up at the moving white clouds. The breeze was moving at the right speed too.

'And father's Clark Kent.' David said biting down on an apple. 'But I have never met him or even seen him. Mommy says he has gone to a special place so that he can keep a better watch on us.'

'Ohh..' He said, fully knowing what it meant. It was best to avoid such a sensitive topic.

'Ahem ! David I think it's time to go back to your home ! Your mommy will find out if you don't.' Goku reminded him, getting both of their clothes from the tree and handing him back his.

After watching David put back his he knelt in front of him and said in a calm fatherly tone.

'Listen David ! This is the last time you'll bunk school to get here okay ! This is not right skipping your school. Studies are a top priority, get it ?! Be a good boy and don't trouble your mommy, okay !' He stroked his cheek gently with his index finger, and the boy hugged him back in reply.

'Thank you, Goku !'

'It's okay ! What are friends for ?'

'Yeah, I guess. Bye.'

'See ya, bye !'

As David began to leave, Goku called out from behind.

'One more thing.'

'What ?'

'Don't be afraid to stand up.'

David turned around to leave for his home knowing that Goku was watching, ensuring that he would reach home safely...

...

'Mommy, I am home !' David declared, tossing his bag on the sofa. He was about to be treated with a shake as usual.

'Here !' Diana handed him the shake. 'You missed Mr. Wayne today ! He came here this morning.'

'Really ?' He asked looking up. Bruce Wayne seemed to be a very nice guy.

'Yes, and he brought you this.' Diana gave him some kind of a decorative box. He opened it and found chocolates, of all sorts inside ! A very nice guy indeed !

'All this for me ?'

'Yes.'

He began scanning each chocolate with an approving look, a smile on his face.

'Now will you kindly explain why you skipped school again ?'

The smile faded, and he looked at his mother. How come she possibly knew ?

'I phoned at your school. They said you never turned up.' She said crossing her arms.

David felt her mother's glare burning through him, he kept quite.

'It was the same man, wasn't it ?'

The boy remained silent.

'You disobey your mother for a stranger ?!' She felt her temper rising. What she couldn't understand was how come a person who David had just recently met had affected him so much that he skipped school to meet him. Certainly, he was a bad influence to be around. But what angered her more was that her son had defied her, her own flesh and blood !

'How dare you ? I gave birth to you, I nursed you, protected you all my life. I centered my life around you. I made you my life, my soul and this is how you repay me ? You defy the only person who loves you ? Why do you do it ?'

It was more of an insult hurled at him. David clenched his fists in anger. True, she loved him beyond anything and he did too, but she had also controlled him for the majority of his life. What he wore, what he did, where he went, everything; threatening him with tears if any sign of resistance was shown. However today with Goku, he had felt in control of his life for the first time, with the man temporarily being his personal flying machine for that particular period of time. Then, he remembered his words

'Don't be afraid to stand up.'

The words echoed in his head several times before he let out his anger for the first time in his life.

'Because you are afraid. You are afraid that someday I will grow up and take my own decisions, that's why you want to control me from the very beginning. You are afraid to lose control, Diana !'

...

SMACK !

The slap was hard across his face. It stung him wildly on his cheek, causing his eyes to become wet with tears. The chocolate box fell from his hands. David knew that he was wrong in calling his mother by name, but it was not something he had planned on doing beforehand. He would never hurt his mother, at least intentionally. Of all her faults, she loved him dearly. He felt guilt, but also anger for getting slapped on saying the right thing, and frustration on how futile the attempt was to lash out at her. All those emotions came rushing, concentration in his eyes and finally he began crying.

WAAAAHHH... !

'Serves you right.' Diana said coldly.

David began running to his room upstairs , still crying.

'Yeah, stay locked in your room. No dinner for you tonight ! And don't come out until tomorrow morning ! Stupid brat ! Like father, like son ! Hurting their most loved ones !' He heard his mother screaming from behind. He flung open the door and lay on the bed wiping tears.

BOOOO ! HOOOO !

He heard the door behind him being shut and locked. Apparently, all his mother loved today, was her ego.


'One, two three, four !' Zod counted his kryptonian comrades he had freed from the phantom zone. Among them were Faora, Non, Namek and Jax-Ur. These were the kryptonian soldiers that had been sealed in the phantom zone all those years ago alongside him. All of them were now wearing a grey metallic suit of some sort, with plates running all around it, giving it a somewhat scaly kind of look. There was also a helmet of some sort attached to the suit.

'Gentlemen... and Ladies. You might be wondering as to why you have been freed and gathered here.' Zod adressed them 'You are going to be part of a very important mission. As you are well aware by now, our home planet, our dear Krypton is no more. Destroyed by a natural calamity we should have seen coming. It's been so many years, but today an opportunity stands in front of us; the opportunity to resurrect Krypton.'

He let his words sink in the minds of the newly freed soldiers. Behind him stood Darkseid, hands folded across his chest, standing at 8' 9" he towered above them all, scrutinizing each newly released kryptonian. He was not in a good mood, because he had expected a better number from Zod.

'That's it ?! I think you said an army !' He had exclaimed earlier, raising his eyebrows, or his eye ridges as he had no brows.

'Rest assured, these are more than enough, Darkseid.' Zod had said raising a hand.

'If you say so.'

'What you are wearing' Zod continued 'is a special type of battle armour. Very strong, highly durable. Some years ago, I had worn a black armour and defeated Kal-El, a kryptonian traitor, with it. He was the strongest of us all. And I beat him with that armour. This is an upgraded version of it. Imagine the power you hold within this armour suit.'

Again, he paused to let his comrades examine the suit.

'This is possible due to our ally, Darkseid's aid. He and his people helped to improve this. He also promises to help us rebuild Krypton in exchange of a small favour. Conquest of Earth.'

A hand raised up. It was Namek.

'A question, General Zod.'

'Yes ?'

'Are the people of this, Earth, any powerful ?'

'Oh yeah !' Darkseid mumbled sarcastically to himself.

'If they posed any serious challenge to us, do you think I would have been content with this few a number ? As a matter of fact they pose no more challenge than insects to us.'

It was the brute, Non's turn to speak 'Then let me go alone and squash them !'

The New God wanted to slap his own head in frustration.

'Easy, Non. Your enthusiasm is appreciated. But, the situation is not as easy as it seems. Apparently, Earth has it's defenders, they call themselves the Justice League. They are comprised of super-powered beings, some who come close to Kal-El in power.'

'Oh !' Non said understanding the gravity of the situation.

'Here comes the armoured suits come into play. It's previous version stomped Kal-El. And he was the strongest League member. Now, we have these grey suits. Victory will be ours for sure. They won't even expect us. Darkseid's parademons will begin a decoy attack in outer space, coaxing out all the leaguers. Then we will teleport to earth and start a conquest. If the league members get in the way, we will slay each and every single one of them. Then we turn on a machine.'

'What will it do ?'

'Complete the anti-life equation. Darkseid has unlocked the majority of it, and rest will be found in the collective minds of the humans; after we have enslaved them. The anti-life equation will allow our ally to eliminate free will across the universe and be the undisputed master of it. And we get Krypton in return. A fair deal, I believe. And our planet will be spared by the equation, that has been promised to me.'

Darkseid nodded in agreement.

'So what are we waiting for ?' Jax said.

'Yes, let's go and get that anti-life equation .'

'Yes, for Krypton.'

'Yeah, come on.'

'We leave tomorrow. A brief recheck has to be done.' Zod announced, which earned him a few disappointed looks and grunts.

'Patience is the key.' He added.

Darkseid was smiling now. Maybe Zod was right.


Whew ! A long chapter I believe ( Kind of makes up for the previous one, I guess )

Oops ! I think Goku messed up again, causing strains between Diana and David !

The wait is over, major action coming ahead !

Zod and Darkseid plan to complete the anti-life equation. But where will the latter resurrect Krypton from ?

Do the League members stand a chance against Darkseid and the five armoured kryptonians ? Can Diana and Goku be of any help ?

Find out in the next chapter... and please leave a review !